Spinning and dancing toy.



- PATENTLD JAN. 27, 1903. I I J. S. THORNBURG.

SPINNING AND DANCING TOY. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII AR. 14, 1902.

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1 f il r I I 8 5 fir/nsdirzu 7% P-e HIDE OF I M s I v 4 g Jim 421% UnitJOHN S. THORNBURG, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

SPINNING AND DANCING TOY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 719,276, dated January27, 1903.

Application filed March 14, 1902. Serial No. 98,147. [No model.)

To all whom it may concern: point is to bring the center of gravityclose Be it known that 1, JOHN S. THORNBURG, a to the surface (notshown) upon whicf" the citizen of the United States, residing at Los topwill be spun. Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and The purpose ofthe long taper spindle 6 is 55 5 State of California, have invented anew and to provide room for a large number oftnrns 1 useful Spinning andDancing Toy, of which of the cord 3 around the spindle without rethefollowing is a specification. quiring a great length of cord and alsopro- An object of this invention is to provide a viding for evenlyincreasing the speed of rospinning top which can be made at a minitationas the cord is drawn in the act of spin- 60 1o mum price and which canreadily be spun for ningthe top. Forming the pivot-point in an a greatlength of time. This toy includes a ogee with the body 4 brings the bodyclose to novel construction of handle by which the the pivot, so thatfor long-time spinning the top may be spun from either the right or leftcenter of gravity is at such a point as to inhand. sure great stability.The spindle desirably 65 One object is to provide a top which will has alarge cylindrical portionj, which may spin for a remarkably long time onone end be approximately equal in diameter to the i with a steady motionand which when spun thickness of the body, thus to give great on theother end will spin with a dancing mostrength to the bond between thespindle and I tion. body. 7 By this invention I provide a simple and Inpractical use for longtime spinning the" easily-constructed top havingits center of cord or string 3 will be wound around the gravity close tothe pivot-point and make prolong tapering spindle 6, beginning at thesmall vision for producing a very high speed of ro end thereof andbending a portion of the cord tation. over the tip of the spindle, asindicated at a 75 The accompanying drawings illustrate the in Fig. I. l

invention. The spindle may be long enough to allow Figure I is a view ofthe toy ready for longseventy or eighty turns of the string or cord timespinning. Fig. 11 is a view of the top 3 around the spindle.

as it appears just before starting to spin in a The handle 1 comprises abody 7, having 80 go dancing manner on the dancing end. Fig.intersecting bores 8 and 9; one of the bores III is an elevation showingthe stem or spinbeing amply large to receive the base of the dle intactand the body of the top in vertical taper spindle, together with thestring or cord mid-section. Fig. IV is a plan view of Fig. 3 Woundthereon, and the bore 9 being of I, showing the top-handle sectioned inpart small diameter, thus making two openings 0 85' 3 5 in a horizontalmid-plane, indicated by line cl on opposite sides of the handlecommuni-- IV. Fig. V is a perspective view of the block eating with thespindle-receiving bore 8. The

and stem prepared ready for turning in the handle is furnishedwithahandpiece 10,which process of manufacturing the top. Fig. VIextends at right angles to the bore 9; p

is a view of the same on a scale correspond- In practical use when thecord has been c ing to that in Figs. I, III, and IV, the block woundupon the spindle 6 the free end bwill for forming the top-body beingshown in midbe passed through one of said openings 0 ol,

section. Fig. VII is an enlarged detail of the formed by the smallerbore 9. To spin the tip of a form of the spindle. top for long spinning,drawing the string with The toy comprises a handle 1, a spinning theright hand the free end of said cord will 5 device 2, and a string orcord 3. The spinbe passed down through the string-receiving ning deviceconsists in a top furnished with bore 8 and laterally through thatportion of a disk-shaped body 4. and having on one side bore 9 which isfarthest away from the perof said body a short pivot-point 5, formed inson, while the handpiece 10 is held by the left 7 an ogee with saidbody, and on the other side hand. Then the spindle will be inserted down"mo a long slender taper spindle 6. The purpose into bore 8 and the bodylof the top brought of the broad thin disk 4: and the short pivotto reston the top of the handle; who

tirely unwound from the spindle the spinning body 'or top will becomefreed from the handle and will spin upon any smooth surface for anextremely-long period of time.

3 spin the toy left-handedthat is to say,

- in order to draw the cord with the left hand ----the.f ee end of thecord will be passed through the portion d of the bore 9 instead ofthrough the portion 0 thereof, as described, or 'if the handpiece 10 isheld in the right hand while adjusting the cord the cord then may bepassed through the hole (1, (shown in Fig. IL) and then the toy will beinverted, thus bringing the free end of the cord into position to bedrawn by the left hand.

In order to give a pleasing variety for the use of the toy, the point ofthe spindle 6 may be provided with an irregularity, projection, or cam11, which is arranged at one side of the point of said spindle, and byappropriately adjusting and holding the parts the top may be made tospin upon the spindle in a dancing manner.

' It is not necessary that the cam 11 should be very great, and in thedrawings it is exaggerated somewhat for clearness of illustration.

To spin the top in a dancing manner, the cord will be wound on thespindle substantially in the way above described, and for spinningwithright hand the free end of the cord will be brought through the portion(Z of the bore 9 which is next to the person, while the handpiece 10 isheld in the left hand, and the operator will cant the handpiece to oneside andwill then draw the cord through the hole d, thereby giving thespinning body a high speed of rotation and at the same time drawing thespindle 6 and top-body 4 up, as indicated in Fig. II, and at the lattermovement of the cord the handle 1 may be suddenly brought down, therebyfreeing the spindle from the handle, whereupon the top will fall to thesurface upon which it is to be spun and standing aslant thereon willbegin to dance and will continue to dance until the rotation ceases oruntil the top may attain an upright position;

' If the spindle] f1 were perfectly smooth at the tip and the surfaceupon which it is spun were also smooth, the toy would spin on the Ispindle with a steady and smooth motion.

norder to construct the toy at minimum 23. "cos and in a dlIl uleandsuperior manner,

the same is formed of two members, as suggested in Figs. III, V, and VI.One of these members e is a block of suitable dimensions for forming thebody 4 by turning the same in a lathe.

f is a stem, which originally may be square in cross-section from end toend, but which before assembling the parts will be turned for a space atone end, as indicated at g in said Figs. V and VI. The block a will beperforated by boring a centrally-located hole It therethrough,whereuponglue or some other suitable cement may be applied to the cylindricalportion 9 and the same inserted in the hole h and the glue allowed toset. Then the body thus formed, as shown in Fig. V, may be placed in thelathe and reduced to the form shown in Figs. I, II, III, and IV.

The under part of the block will be turned to form, with the lower endof portion g, the pivot-point 5 at the end of the axis of the stem.

The spindle 6 will be turned to slender taper, and the upper face of theblock will preferably be left fiat throughout its main portion, butrounding at the periphery, as shown in Figs. I, III, and IV. It is to beunderstood, however, that I do not limit myself as to the exact form ofthe portion 4. The same may be varied without departing from my inven--tion in its main features. In practical manufacture a single stick (notshown) may be turned at intervals to produce cylindrical portions g,with intermediate unturned portions f, and after thus being turned thestick may be cut in any suitable manner into appropriate lengths forforming the spindles and pivot-points of the tops.

By the construction shown the center of gravity and the axis of thespindle may be made to perfectly coincide. The-pivot-point 5 will. be atthe end of such axis, so that there will be no liability to wabble inspinning the top.

The spindle 6 may be made of very hard dense wood and the main body 4:of wood of a less expensive character, and a top of great durability andsuperior spinning qualities may thus be produced at a minimum cost.

The grain of the stick which forms the spindle runs lengthwise of thespindle, and the grain of the block which forms the main body for thetop will have its grain running at right angles to the grain of thespindle.

The top may readily be spun for a considerable time by simply twirlingthe spindle between the fingers of the hand; but in order to get themost satisfactory results and also I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Eatent of the United States, is-

A top furnished with a disk-shaped body Now, having described myinvention, what andhavingononesideofsaidbodyalongslentwo subscribingwitnesses, at 'Los Angeles, (ler taper spindle the point of which isslightly California, this 8th day of March, 1902. irregular and formedas a cam in order to cause the top to dance when spun aslant on JOHNTHORNBURG' such point. VVihnesses:

In testimony whereof I have signed my JAMES R. TOWNSEND, name to thisspecification, in the presence of JULIA TOWNSEND.

